VANCOUVER -- The Montreal Canadiens traded defenceman Raphael Diaz to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday in exchange for forward Dale Weise. Deion Sanders Braves Jersey . The 28-year-old Diaz had 11 assists and 12 penalty minutes in 46 games for the Canadiens this season. The native of Baar, Switzerland, has 41 points (four goals, 37 assists) and 48 penalty minutes in 128 NHL career games but was a healthy scratch of late with Montreal. "This is the business. This is the way it is," Diaz said Monday on a conference call. "As a player you want to play as much as you can and you want to help you team." Diaz joins a Canucks blue-line that has suffered a number of injuries in recent weeks, with both Christopher Tanev and Kevin Bieksa currently out of the lineup. "As a sportsman, as a hockey player, you respect everything (teams) do," he said. "(The Canadiens) always treated me good. They helped me learn a lot things to play in the NHL. "Im really excited for the new opportunity." Meanwhile, Weise never seemed to fit into the plans of Canucks head coach John Tortorella. The Winnipeg native had three goals, nine assists and 42 penalty minutes in 44 games this season, mostly while playing on the fourth line. "I think I can bring a physical presence to the (Canadiens)," said Weise. "Im a good skater and I work hard and my success is down low and hanging onto pucks and being physical and trying to get to the hard areas to score goals. "Im not sure where Im going to fit in just yet. Im just looking forward to coming in and trying to play hard and trying to find a spot." In 162 career NHL games, the 25-year-old has 10 goals, 16 assists and 185 penalty minutes. Weises name had been mentioned in trade speculation in recent weeks, but Mondays deal still caught him off guard. "(The trade) comes as a little bit of a shock to me," said Weise. "I think any time you hear rumours around you think about it but theres so many (rumours) that go around and you just never know. "I didnt put too much thought into it ... I was shocked when I heard about it today." Weise was expected to arrive in Montreal on Monday night and practise with the Canadiens on Tuesday morning, while Diaz was set to meet up with his new teammates the same day in Boston. Both Weise and Diaz will get a chance to face their old teams this week when the Canadiens host the Canucks on Thursday night at the Bell Centre. David Justice Jersey . Weise will have his hearing with the NHL head office over the phone, while the league has requested an in-person hearing with Kassian. Oilers centre Sam Gagner suffered a broken jaw after getting hit with a high stick from Kassian in Edmontons 5-2 win. Josh Donaldson Jersey . Mika Zibanejad and Jason Spezza scored in the shootout to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over Nashville on Saturday night.PHOENIX - Doug Baldwin led the Seattle Seahawks in catches and yards receiving.He ranked 42nd in the NFL in both categories.Forty-second.Its no surprise that Hall of Famer and NFL Networks Deion Sanders dissed Baldwin and the rest of Seattles receiving group.Few analysts give them any credit. So after Baldwin had six catches for 106 yards in the NFC championship game against Green Bay, he directed one of his rants toward Sanders.Thats just what pedestrian, average, mediocre receivers do. Whats up my man Deion Sanders? Baldwin said right after the game.Criticism of Seattles receivers comes from ex-players-turned-broadcasters, other reporters and plenty of fans on social media.Its thrown in my face day in and day out, Baldwin said. I have friends that text-message me whatever is out there. I dont mind it because I use it for extra motivation. I have a shirt underneath my sweatshirt that says, Pedestrians with attitude. We enjoy the label because we embrace it.The New England Patriots arent saying anything this week to motivate Baldwin even more going into Sundays Super Bowl.They work hard, they play hard and they are very passionate, Patriots safety Patrick Chung said of Seattles receivers. I see that on film. Im not going to label them. You can say what you want to say about them, but they are here for a reason. They are here because they are good and they can make plays.Baldwin has calmed down as the Big Game approaches. He even said hed rather Marshawn Lynch win the MVP award on Sunday.We are not about statistics here, obviously, Baldwin said. We only care about winning games and winning championships. We know the formula that we have put in place is if Marshawn wins the MVP then we have done our job on offence. That means that we have controlled the pace of the game.Theres no Megatron, Dez Bryant or A.J. Green on the Patriots, either. They also have an unheralded group of receivers.Julian Edelman led New England with 92 catches, but he was 25th in the league in yards receiving with 972. Brandon LaFell had 74 catches for 953 yards. Tom Brady has only had one elite receiver — Randy Moss — in his career and they set records together during New Englands 16-0 regular season in 2007.Its a really selfless group, guys that are aalways putting the team first, Brady said. Dale Murphy Jersey. Everybody has a little different skillset. I think that once we hit our stride and everybody found a role for themselves, they really embraced their role. None of them have really played in a Super Bowl before. Hopefully we bring our excitement and as much enthusiasm as possible and we go out and play as best as we possibly can.Jermaine Kearse, Seattles No. 2 wideout, had 38 catches for 537 yards and one TD in the regular season. But Kearse had three catches for a career-best 129 yards and one TD in a 31-17 playoff win over Carolina. Kearse then caught a 35-yard TD pass in overtime to win the NFC championship game.Its just about maximizing opportunities, Kearse said. Just whenever you have an opportunity youve got to make the most of it. I just try to go out there and compete no matter what the stage is if its regular season or its a preseason game or its a playoff game.The Seahawks thought they got a legitimate No. 1 receiver when they acquired Percy Harvin from Minnesota in March 2013 for a trio of draft picks, including a first-rounder.But Harvin missed the first 2 1/2 months that year and was traded to the New York Jets last October. His departure opened the way for Baldwin and Kearse.Obviously we would get more opportunities because we were down a guy, but it was just business as usual for us, Baldwin said.Golden Tate was Seattles top wideout last year. He had 64 catches for 898 yards and one TD in an offence built on Lynchs running and Russell Wilsons scrambling.Tate signed a lucrative deal in free agency with Detroit and made his first Pro Bowl this year after catching 99 passes for 1,331 yards and four TDs. Since Tate proved he could thrive in a pass-heavy offence, perhaps Baldwin will try to do the same in two years when hes an unrestricted free agent.For now, earning another Super Bowl ring is all that matters.Im just trying to focus on the task at hand and living in the moment, Baldwin said. I dont really think I will be able to fathom what we are doing yet (until) a couple years down the line.___Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_RobMaaddi___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP_NFL href="http://www.authenticwholesalejerseys.net/">Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '
VANCOUVER -- The Montreal Canadiens traded defenceman Raphael Diaz to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday in exchange for forward Dale Weise. Deion Sanders Braves Jersey . The 28-year-old Diaz had 11 assists and 12 penalty minutes in 46 games for the Canadiens this season. The native of Baar, Switzerland, has 41 points (four goals, 37 assists) and 48 penalty minutes in 128 NHL career games but was a healthy scratch of late with Montreal. "This is the business. This is the way it is," Diaz said Monday on a conference call. "As a player you want to play as much as you can and you want to help you team." Diaz joins a Canucks blue-line that has suffered a number of injuries in recent weeks, with both Christopher Tanev and Kevin Bieksa currently out of the lineup. "As a sportsman, as a hockey player, you respect everything (teams) do," he said. "(The Canadiens) always treated me good. They helped me learn a lot things to play in the NHL. "Im really excited for the new opportunity." Meanwhile, Weise never seemed to fit into the plans of Canucks head coach John Tortorella. The Winnipeg native had three goals, nine assists and 42 penalty minutes in 44 games this season, mostly while playing on the fourth line. "I think I can bring a physical presence to the (Canadiens)," said Weise. "Im a good skater and I work hard and my success is down low and hanging onto pucks and being physical and trying to get to the hard areas to score goals. "Im not sure where Im going to fit in just yet. Im just looking forward to coming in and trying to play hard and trying to find a spot." In 162 career NHL games, the 25-year-old has 10 goals, 16 assists and 185 penalty minutes. Weises name had been mentioned in trade speculation in recent weeks, but Mondays deal still caught him off guard. "(The trade) comes as a little bit of a shock to me," said Weise. "I think any time you hear rumours around you think about it but theres so many (rumours) that go around and you just never know. "I didnt put too much thought into it ... I was shocked when I heard about it today." Weise was expected to arrive in Montreal on Monday night and practise with the Canadiens on Tuesday morning, while Diaz was set to meet up with his new teammates the same day in Boston. Both Weise and Diaz will get a chance to face their old teams this week when the Canadiens host the Canucks on Thursday night at the Bell Centre. David Justice Jersey . Weise will have his hearing with the NHL head office over the phone, while the league has requested an in-person hearing with Kassian. Oilers centre Sam Gagner suffered a broken jaw after getting hit with a high stick from Kassian in Edmontons 5-2 win. Josh Donaldson Jersey . Mika Zibanejad and Jason Spezza scored in the shootout to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over Nashville on Saturday night.PHOENIX - Doug Baldwin led the Seattle Seahawks in catches and yards receiving.He ranked 42nd in the NFL in both categories.Forty-second.Its no surprise that Hall of Famer and NFL Networks Deion Sanders dissed Baldwin and the rest of Seattles receiving group.Few analysts give them any credit. So after Baldwin had six catches for 106 yards in the NFC championship game against Green Bay, he directed one of his rants toward Sanders.Thats just what pedestrian, average, mediocre receivers do. Whats up my man Deion Sanders? Baldwin said right after the game.Criticism of Seattles receivers comes from ex-players-turned-broadcasters, other reporters and plenty of fans on social media.Its thrown in my face day in and day out, Baldwin said. I have friends that text-message me whatever is out there. I dont mind it because I use it for extra motivation. I have a shirt underneath my sweatshirt that says, Pedestrians with attitude. We enjoy the label because we embrace it.The New England Patriots arent saying anything this week to motivate Baldwin even more going into Sundays Super Bowl.They work hard, they play hard and they are very passionate, Patriots safety Patrick Chung said of Seattles receivers. I see that on film. Im not going to label them. You can say what you want to say about them, but they are here for a reason. They are here because they are good and they can make plays.Baldwin has calmed down as the Big Game approaches. He even said hed rather Marshawn Lynch win the MVP award on Sunday.We are not about statistics here, obviously, Baldwin said. We only care about winning games and winning championships. We know the formula that we have put in place is if Marshawn wins the MVP then we have done our job on offence. That means that we have controlled the pace of the game.Theres no Megatron, Dez Bryant or A.J. Green on the Patriots, either. They also have an unheralded group of receivers.Julian Edelman led New England with 92 catches, but he was 25th in the league in yards receiving with 972. Brandon LaFell had 74 catches for 953 yards. Tom Brady has only had one elite receiver — Randy Moss — in his career and they set records together during New Englands 16-0 regular season in 2007.Its a really selfless group, guys that are aalways putting the team first, Brady said. Dale Murphy Jersey. Everybody has a little different skillset. I think that once we hit our stride and everybody found a role for themselves, they really embraced their role. None of them have really played in a Super Bowl before. Hopefully we bring our excitement and as much enthusiasm as possible and we go out and play as best as we possibly can.Jermaine Kearse, Seattles No. 2 wideout, had 38 catches for 537 yards and one TD in the regular season. But Kearse had three catches for a career-best 129 yards and one TD in a 31-17 playoff win over Carolina. Kearse then caught a 35-yard TD pass in overtime to win the NFC championship game.Its just about maximizing opportunities, Kearse said. Just whenever you have an opportunity youve got to make the most of it. I just try to go out there and compete no matter what the stage is if its regular season or its a preseason game or its a playoff game.The Seahawks thought they got a legitimate No. 1 receiver when they acquired Percy Harvin from Minnesota in March 2013 for a trio of draft picks, including a first-rounder.But Harvin missed the first 2 1/2 months that year and was traded to the New York Jets last October. His departure opened the way for Baldwin and Kearse.Obviously we would get more opportunities because we were down a guy, but it was just business as usual for us, Baldwin said.Golden Tate was Seattles top wideout last year. He had 64 catches for 898 yards and one TD in an offence built on Lynchs running and Russell Wilsons scrambling.Tate signed a lucrative deal in free agency with Detroit and made his first Pro Bowl this year after catching 99 passes for 1,331 yards and four TDs. Since Tate proved he could thrive in a pass-heavy offence, perhaps Baldwin will try to do the same in two years when hes an unrestricted free agent.For now, earning another Super Bowl ring is all that matters.Im just trying to focus on the task at hand and living in the moment, Baldwin said. I dont really think I will be able to fathom what we are doing yet (until) a couple years down the line.___Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_RobMaaddi___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '
